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Royals get Soler, gain payroll flexibility

Moore on trading for Soler 0:30

Royals general manager Dayton Moore discusses the acquisition of Jorge Soler in a trade with the Cubs and how KC plans to utilize him

By Jeffrey Flanagan
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MLB.com |

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The Royals' front office staff made its way out of the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center on Thursday morning having accomplished part of its mission to trim payroll while staying in contention for a championship run in 2017.

Multiple teams put in offers for closer Wade Davis, and on Wednesday afternoon, Royals general manager Dayton Moore made the deal he felt strongest about -- a one-for-one swap with the Cubs for promising outfielder Jorge Soler, who is signed through 2020.

Jeffrey Flanagan has covered the Royals since 1991, and for MLB.com since 2015. Follow him on Twitter @FlannyMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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One move done, Moore plotting pieces to KC's puzzle

Moore on trading for Soler 0:30

Royals general manager Dayton Moore discusses the acquisition of Jorge Soler in a trade with the Cubs and how KC plans to utilize him

By Jeffrey Flanagan
/
MLB.com |

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- OK, so now what?

Royals general manager Dayton Moore pulled off a needed trade on Wednesday, Day 3 of the Winter Meetings, moving closer Wade Davis and the remaining $10 million on the right-hander's contract to the Cubs for outfielder Jorge Soler.

Jeffrey Flanagan has covered the Royals since 1991, and for MLB.com since 2015. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Winter Meetings interview with Dayton Moore, Jed Hoyer

MLB.com |

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, we completed a trade this afternoon with the Chicago Cubs, sending Wade Davis to the Cubs in exchange for Jorge Soler. We have Dayton Moore and Jed Hoyer at the table here to take your questions.

Q. Dayton, can you just tell us where you expect to use Soler, is it right field, DH, maybe a little bit of both and walk us through how this deal came about?DAYTON MOORE: Yeah, a combination both. We obviously love his upside, love his power. Like the fact that we have some control for the next four years, potential right fielder as you know, we have several players that are perhaps, you know, entering free agency after the 2017 season.

So this was an important deal for us, a tough deal, trading an All-Star closer in Wade Davis, somebody who has been just so instrumental to our success. We certainly wouldn't have been able to win and win a World Series without Wade. But the fact that we have the DH, we can utilize him in both spots.

Q. How does he rate defensively in your mind? I know he's got a plus arm. Does he need some improvement perhaps in his outfield skills?DAYTON MOORE: Well, we see him as an average right fielder with a chance to get better. We put great faith in Rusty Kuntz, who works with our outfielders and baserunners. We feel there's upside there, as well.

Q. Was there any impetus from this with the new CBA rules, knowing you'd only get after the first round, if he signed for 50 million or more and left as a free agent in a year, or do you think this would have happened anyway?DAYTON MOORE: I think it would have happened anyway. That didn't really factor in with this particular deal, no.

Q. Does it change your thinking for the guys you have?DAYTON MOORE: Well, every situation's different. You have to evaluate it one at a time. But not necessarily. I mean, we're not going to feel any pressure to move forward with any of our players based on the new CBA. We think it's a tremendous deal for baseball and we don't see it affecting the Royals in a negative way.

Q. Jed, does this automatically make Davis your closer or are there other moves you're planning that might change that?JED HOYER: No, that's certainly the thought. We did this deal, putting Wade Davis in the ninth inning, obviously he's been an All-Star closer and he's closed out world championships and we're excited to get him.

That doesn't say that we don't have a lot of confidence in the other guys in our bullpen. Hector did a great job as a closer. Pedro Strop has had a really good run with us in the eighth inning, Edwards, Justin Grimm.

But one thing we learned this year, and I know Dayton learned it in '14 and '15, is when you play that extra month, it's really hard on your bullpen. It's really hard on your whole pitching staff. The more good relievers we can add that, the more we can add that length and have versatile weapons, the better.

And so Wade is going to pitch the ninth, but we really like the other guys we have, and hopefully this can take a little bit of the burden off all of them, hoping to play that seventh month.

Q. With so many free agents like you referred to there, it was important to get a big league piece back in there. How do you balance still wanting to win this year with the reality of what you face next year?DAYTON MOORE: That's the challenge, obviously, but we think it's important to try to accomplish both. We certainly expect to win in 2017; put a competitive team on the field that can compete to win our division.

It's going to be a challenge. But we're excited that Jorge can be a part of that, and as I said before, it gives us control for the future, and because we don't want to -- we want to continue to win. We want to win consistently in Kansas City and Jorge certainly gives us a better opportunity to do that.

Q. Curious what your understanding is about Davis's flexor tendon. He missed some time a couple times over the summer, where that is now, and how comfortable -- obviously you're very comfortable with it, but what makes you comfortable with that?JED HOYER: Yeah, we felt really good about it. Obviously we took a look at the file, looked at the MRIs he took in July and they looked really good.

And then Dayton actually offered, he said, I want you to feel good about this as a deal. Dayton is a dream to work with.

So we had our trainer put his hands on him today, give him a physical and he checked out great. He looks fantastic and ready to go. So I think any time you're trading a guy like Jorge Soler, you want to make sure you feel really terrific about what you're getting in return. Both of the medical file process and through put being our hands on Wade this morning, we felt really good about it.

Q. If both you guys could address it, because you have some experience with it, Dayton, the last couple years you've had to manage success coming off very successful seasons and going into the next one with different expectations. Jed, you went through it in Boston, and you're going to face having won everything there is to win and trying to replicate that. What are the difficulties? What have you learned about that, essentially managing success?JED HOYER: Yeah, I think that it's definitely a different set of challenges. I think Joe will do a masterful job of dealing with that, the motivation factor; and also dealing with the fact that you do have to do things a little bit different coming into spring training and maybe the early part of next season. We played into mid October in 2015 and then obviously into November in 2016.

So I do think we have to think about how that affects all of our players, not just the pitchers, but all the players, and try to be creative in how we give them rest, try to be creative in when they start their work outs and stuff like that.

There's no question, and this deal obviously shows that. We expect to play for a long time again this year, and we want to plan accordingly, and so we've got a tough road ahead, like everyone does, but we do have to plan for playing that seventh month, and it does require some lengthy discussions and some creativity on the front end.

Electrifying Soler ready to take KC by storm

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By Michael Clair |

The Royals made their first big move of the offseason at the Winter Meetings on Wednesday when they traded relief ace Wade Davis to the Cubs for human sparkplug Jorge Soler. While there is good reason for Royals fans to miss Davis -- his 1.18 ERA over the last three seasons led a dominant bullpen -- they should be heartened to know they are also receiving one of the most exciting (dare I say electric?) players in baseball.

Royals Charities Giving Week continues

MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As a part of the second annual Royals Charities Giving Week, Royals Charities and the Royals Alumni Association will visit Northland Early Education Center and FosterAdopt Connect on Thursday, December 8.

At 10 a.m., Royals Charities and the Royals Alumni Association will visit Northland Early Education Center. During their first stop of the day, Royals Charities will present a check for $20,000 to support the expansion of the organization's building and services. The Royals Alumni Foundation will also present a check for $5,000 to help build new classrooms and an outdoors classroom. Royals alumni participating in the event will include Jaime Bluma, Jim Eisenreich, Jeff Montgomey and Greg Pryor. The presentation will take place at Northland Early Education Center located at 8630 N. Oak Trafficway, Kansas City, Mo.

Royals will benefit from full offseason routine

Yost: KC's two World Series runs impacted conditioning, recovery

Royals manager Ned Yost talks about putting together a winning team and how the club has had recent success despite having limited resources

By Jeffrey Flanagan
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MLB.com |

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- Aside from possible roster improvements the Royals may make here at the Winter Meetings, manager Ned Yost believes recovery time itself could help his team the most this offseason.

Fatigue from two World Series runs in 2014 and '15 may have hurt the Royals as much as anything last season.

Moore looking for right return, while balancing payroll and winning in '17

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- There has been some speculation that the Royals would be the team rocking this year's Winter Meetings with a blockbuster trade that would include perhaps closer Wade Davis or possibly center fielder Lorenzo Cain or maybe even third baseman Mike Moustakas.

But on Tuesday, the deal that shook the Winter Meetings came from the American League Central-rival White Sox, who dealt superstar left-hander Chris Sale to the Red Sox for top prospects.

"She was like a sister," Swanson said. "She always made you feel like you were very important in her life. She just put people first. Every time I saw her, she had to see pictures of my daughter [Rachel].

Perez commits to World Baseball Classic

With the World Baseball Classic just a few months away, the rosters are beginning to take shape. More names surfaced Monday as the World Baseball Classic released an initial list of 30 players who are confirmed to be participating in the 2017 tournament.

Spanning 16 countries, the players include 24 Major League All-Stars, but the upcoming WBC, which will take place in March, provides a global stage for veterans and rising stars alike.

Chad Thornburg is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Winter Meetings interview with Ned Yost

MLB.com |

Q. Have you got a wish list at all, next few days?NED YOST: For, like, the next week or so?

Q. Yeah.NED YOST: I gotta refill the feeders at the farm, planted some grass, finally got some rain so my wish is that it comes up.

Q. How about your roster?NED YOST: What about my roster?

Q. Are you guys set for next spring?NED YOST: You're never all set this time of year, Dayton is looking at, you know, anything that could help our club get better. That's important.

The thing that we got better at the end of the year is that we got healthy, hopefully, coming through this winter, having Mous healthy and Gordy back to being 100% and Wade being healthy and Cain being healthy. I mean, those were all big pieces there and parts of our club that, you know, it's hard to be successful when you're missing those pieces. I think health was the most important part.

And you look at the bullpen that we have now and you kinda look at some internal options that we have with some of these young guys that are throwing the ball really, really well, you feel like, you know, we're pretty well covered.

But that still doesn't take away from the fact that you're always looking for more.

Q. Was fatigue a factor down the stretch? Do you think that will change next year?NED YOST: You sit here and I always say to myself, you don't want to make excuses but the fact of the matter was, yeah, we missed three months of recovery and conditioning time over the last two years which is vitally important.

I think that that played, for me it had a big impact on guys like Chris Young, who is so diligent and dedicated in his off-season conditioning program, it was cut short. Wade Davis is the same way. His recovery and conditioning time for the winter was cut way short.

I know how it was for me last year. At the end of the winter, I told my wife, I can hardly wait to get to Spring Training so I can get some rest.

And it was the same way with the guys, too. I think a full winter is going to benefit us greatly.

Q. Ned, did you watch any of the waiver stuff given that you have all these free agents and it's like the rules are changing? Did you sort of get any take on how that might affect you guys?NED YOST: I didn't. Where I live in Georgia, I don't have Wi-Fi, so I've got to walk outside and get 3G. And I've already burned up my data twice. So I kind of pick and choose on what I care to look at. I didn't really study the collective bargaining thing too well.

I did get a sheet upstairs when I got in. I was supposed to get in yesterday at 11:00, but my daughter-in-law went into labor and didn't get here until midnight. And we have a brand new baby girl, so we're excited about that.

Q. Is this your daughter?NED YOST: It's my son and my daughter-in-law.

Q. New granddaughter?NED YOST: Yeah.

Q. When was that?NED YOST: She was last night at 1:30.

Q. What's her name?NED YOST: Amber Lin.

Q. A-M-B-E-R?NED YOST: Yes, Lin.

Q. Was that in Georgia?NED YOST: Yeah, LaGrange, Georgia.

I've got that packet to study the collective bargaining agreement, but I just haven't had a chance to look at it yet.

Q. You guys have these guys who are getting closer. Does that lend any sense to your team in terms of urgency?
NED YOST: Honestly, probably, maybe a little bit. I could say no, but, yeah, it does. We don't know what's going to happen after next year. We know who we have under control for next year and it's a really, really good core, nucleus of championship caliber players.

Our focus this year is, you know, to get back to where we've been the last couple of years competitively to where we can compete for a championship and we think health is going to be a big part of that.

And worry about 2018 when that time comes.

Q. After the success you had with your bullpen those couple years in October, what was it like to see other teams adopt similar strategies?NED YOST: It was amazing to see -- to watch games and kind of understand the feeling that other teams had against us. Because when I would watch Cleveland play, if they were tied or had the lead in the sixth inning, I'm like, Boys, this game is over. That's the same feeling that I think other teams had when they played us in the past.

It was interesting to see how effective and successful that strategy can be.

Q. Ned, Terry was saying he's not sure you can use Miller that way for all season. Do you think teams will build that whatever you want to call it, the guy who comes in and puts out the fire in the sixth, seventh, or eighth, but is still not a closer? Do you think that's where bullpens are morphing to?NED YOST: I think so, but you gotta understand, Andrew Miller, these guys don't grow on trees. They are few and far in between, guys that are that durable that can pitch like he did, especially down the stretch. Terry is right. You can't do that during the regular season, you're going to blow somebody out. But in the playoffs, it's a lot easier to do.

But I think that, you know, bullpens are looking -- and it's not that you label a guy a seventh inning guy or eighth inning guy or ninth inning guy, I think what teams are trying to do or what successful teams have done have had a seventh or eighth or ninth inning guy, and all three of them can pitch in the ninth inning. All three of them can close. When you have that, man, that's a huge advantage late in the game.

Q. Despite some extenuating circumstances, like injuries and different things, given the success that your guys have had the previous two years and what they achieved, what do you think the feeling was around the team? Were guys ticked off at the end of the year or disappointed? Did you get that sense?NED YOST: You know, I didn't get a sense -- I think they were disappointed. But, you know, it's like I tell my guys, you know, all you can do is when you step on that field just give all you have for that day, every bit of it.

I never felt one moment during that season that our guys didn't do that. With the injuries, when they started piling up, you've got guys like Escobar and guys like Morales and Eric Hosmer trying to pick up that slack, that's a lot of slack to pick up, you know?

I think our guys at the end of the year, each and every one of them, they could look themselves in the mirror and say, Hey, you know what? We gave it everything we had, it just didn't work out. We had too many injuries, we just ran out of steam there at the end because, you know, we at times lost three or four, maybe even five All Stars, you know? It was what it was. I don't feel like, you know, we left anything on the table. I don't feel like they felt like we should have done better.

I think everybody is excited headed into next year.

Q. How thin is that fine line? You went the distance two consecutive years, World Series, you got the ring the second time then. Coming around the next time, you want to protect these guys, but at the same time you want to stay competitive. How thin is that line?NED YOST: It's a fine line but, you know, even going through '14, we didn't really kind of like figure it out until the playoffs started. So we were just playing. Once the playoffs started it was like, OK, here we go.

'15 was a different story. From day one of Spring Training, our goal was to win the World Series. From day one. The only thing going through '15 every day when you wake up it's like please nobody get hurt. And we were really lucky that we didn't have a bunch of injuries that year. That's the biggest threat to the championship team is health, when guys get hurt. Some of it you just can't control. Mous and Gordy, two All-Stars going down the line in Chicago for a foul ball in May. It's May. But that's their style of play, both of them diving for it, and Gordy breaks a wrist and Mous blows his knee out and you lose two All-Stars.

We stayed away from that stuff in' 15 and hopefully we got most of that out of our system last year and we will be healthy going into' 17.

Q. What have you heard about Mous and Cain?NED YOST: They're doing great, right on schedule with their rehabs and 100 percent ready to go.

Q. Having been around Greg Holland, do you have any doubt he will be able to bounce back to be what he was?NED YOST: None. I don't know if he will ever be what he was. I would suspect that he's going to be and I mean "stuffwise" 97, 98 miles an hour.

But the thing about Greg Holland is I've never met anybody that was more of a fierce, fearless competitor than he was. When you have that in your DNA, you can get by at 92, 93 miles an hour. It wouldn't surprise me that he gets back to being the dominant guy that he was before because he's got that -- he has that make-up and that mentality when he steps on that mound. He's some kinda fierce competitor.

Q. Dean has talked this off-season about the payroll limitations that you might be facing. Is that a reality that you have to deal with that you're not going to be able to keep this score together forever?NED YOST: It's a reality. Dayton and I knew coming into this that we're a small market team and these are going to be some of the things that we will have to deal with. And our mindset has always been, we're going to make it work.

We won the World Series. We went to the World Series in' 14 with a $97 million payroll. We can do it. We don't have to have the best guys, we just have to have the right guys. That's the hard part is just finding those right guys to fit into our system so that it completes a 25-man unit that can be successful.

Q. Not to give away Dayton's strategy, but when you look at things do you think maybe a starter, you got Dyson and Redfield, I think you got Merrifield at second, are there certain areas that you think he's focusing on a little bit?NED YOST: No, I don't think we're focusing on any area, per se.

I think we're look to go see if anything makes sense to help us get better. Christian Colon we feel is ready to compete for a spot at second base with Merrifield. Modesi is having a decent winter ball. We really like our starting pitching with Duffy, who turned a corner last year. Ventura continues to get better and better to move up into that next level as a pitcher. We saw Jason Vargas at the end of the year, three great starts. Ian Kennedy, Chris Young we're expecting to bounce back really, really well.

We lost some guys in the pen, but we feel that we have some really great internal options. But we're always looking to improve the pen. We've seen that the formula works really, really well to have that lock-down bullpen and trying to find ways to stay athletic and defensive we think is really important.

Sitting here, I don't feel that we have any glaring holes that we need to really focus and concentrate on. It's just little pieces here and there to make our club better.

Q. You mentioned the fatigue, did you see that show up with Wade in the second half last year?NED YOST: I thought it did. I thought especially with, you know, Cain's leg injuries with Wade, you know, because it was -- it wasn't ligament it was muscle soreness, you know, muscle tightness.

Chris Young was the same way, never got on track. And these guys -- the thing that we don't see because we're off doing our thing in the winter but these guys are diligent with their off-season conditioning programs. You know, they're very regimented, routine oriented and, you know, they work their tails off. And over the last two years when you're losing three months over a two-year period of rest and recovery and conditioning time, it's going to take a toll. It just does. You hope that it doesn't, but it does.

I think that like I said before, guys coming in, you know, with a full offseason under their belt are going to be way better off for it.

Q. Ned, you're wearing the ring that shows what happened two seasons ago, but you know the issues facing the smaller market club. Lorenzo Cain, there is a lot of talk that he could be moved. What are your thoughts on that still keeping the Royals going but maybe adding through subtraction?NED YOST: I think there's a lot of rumors out there. The one thing that Dayton -- Dayton would never trade anybody just to save money, he's not going to do that, if he's going to trade somebody it's going to make our club better.

Again, we do have the majority of our core after 2017, you know, are all going to be free agents. Dayton is a great guy that can look into the future and figure out how do we make our club better now and for the future. I think he's very open minded and I think he's been looking at everything, you know, that could accomplish both of those goals. To make us better now and for the future. The GM job is hard, man, it's hard to piece all that together. But he does a great job of it.

Q. Ned, you guys have a rotating committee there, do you feel like you can make up the production of Kendrys in other areas?NED YOST: I do. I feel like right now we were in that roving DH until we signed Kendrys and he turned out to be a productive player for us. But if we keep that roving DH and Mous coming off the injury, it's going to allow us to keep his bat in the game and allow us to keep Salvi's bat in the game on days we want to give him days off.

Hos is a kid that just plays every single day but could use a half day every now and then. It allows us to keep his bat in the game. Lorenzo Cain.

I feel like there are good benefits to it. And if you combine the rotation over the end of the year and you're being looking at the numbers in the DH they're going to be pretty productive. I feel like we're going to be fine if we don't get somebody to be a DH.

Q. A lot of your success the last couple of years has been with home-grown guys. But before it clicked for guys like Perez, was there a key turning point for you guys especially for those younger guys who became such a part of your success?NED YOST: I think time. It's always been my experience when you get a group of guys together like we brought up a core group of guys to play we did it in Atlanta and in Milwaukee. Seems like it took about two and a half years for them to start to get to the point where they could really compete. But for me the Wild Card game of 2014 was the point where all of the sudden they went from thinking that they were good and could win to believing that they were good and could win. That changed everything.

Q. For you as a manager was there anything that you were called to do to help those guys get to that point?NED YOST: No, you can't -- again, it's hard to get people to believe until they believe. You can tell 'em and tell 'em and tell 'em, hey, you're really good, you're going to be a champion, you're going to be a champion and they keep saying it in their head but until they believe it in their heart, that's the difference.

I think in the eighth inning of the Wild Card game is when those guys came together and all of the sudden they believed it in their heart. They were four runs down against a guy that they couldn't beat and they ended up winning the game and the rest is kinda history for them.

Q. You said you were in Georgia at your farm. What do you do? You really get away from it, I guess?NED YOST: I do.

Q. You still like hunting with Jeff Foxworthy?NED YOST: Yeah, we still do that a lot. There's a lot of work to be done on the farm. We get up every day and it's a full day every day. Just doing different stuff. But it's hard for us, you know, we feel like the winter is family time because we don't have that during the summer, you're gone in Kansas City. We've got family over all the time and the kids are in the woods and the grandkids are running around and riding tractors and four-wheelers and bulldozers, and we're having a blast.

Q. I thought you said that was you are your first granddaughter?NED YOST: That was my first granddaughter. I have got a grandson, a three-year-old grandson.

Q. You didn't get much sleep, then, probably?NED YOST: No, but her momma, who is my son's wife, she hunted every day until two weeks before Amber Lin was born. So I imagine that Amber -- she missed a big 11-point two weeks before she was going to give birth. I imagine Amber Lynn is going to be an outdoor girl.

Q. Kill a lot more deer this offseason than last year?NED YOST: I have not because it's been so hot and dry.

I think we've killed ten or 11 at the farm but I'm catching a few fish.

Q. For a while you guys were ascending and chasing something and now it's sort of about sustaining it. Does that change anything on your end?NED YOST: No, no, I don't think so. Again, you know, we've got goals that we want to achieve. We want to give 2017 our best shot. That doesn't change anything.

Q. Does it affect your guys' outlook that if, for example, the Tigers traded veterans or the White Sox traded some veterans and they might be taking a step back?NED YOST: You could probably say no, but the honest answer is probably yeah. You're always looking at teams that you compete against and if they were to trade one of their key players that's one less guy you gotta contend with in your division.

I hope they do it.

Q. Got a starter for Opening Day yet?NED YOST: You know what? I haven't thought about that, Andy. See how you stimulate my mind?

Q. Give it to Duffy, it would mean the world to Duffy, wouldn't it?NED YOST: It would, yeah.

Q. Is that the guy?NED YOST: I don't know, that's a good -- it's a good option. Good option.

Q. What about a fifth starter, got anybody in mind for that?NED YOST: Chris Young and probably Matt Strahm right now that are probably going to compete for that spot. I just feel very strongly that Chris Young is going to bounce back really well. We saw how effective Matt Strahm can be in the pen last year. He's a nice piece to have down there but I'm not counting him out as a starter, either. See where it goes.

Q. Where is Mondesi playing?NED YOST: Dominican.

Q. How is he doing?NED YOST: Doing fine, I think he's hitting .270, something like that.

Q. Does he need to get stronger?NED YOST: He's only 21 years old. He's going to grow into his body. This kid's got power. You watch him take BP, he blows my mind hitting balls over the center field wall. That's hard to do in our ballpark. He's got it, he's still continuing to understand spin of a breaking ball, you know? But he will. He's 21 years old. He's tremendously talented and athletic and I think he's going to be a good player.

Q. You talked about bounce-back years, Soria has to have a bounce-back year and Alex, too?NED YOST: I think those guys, all of 'em will. You look at, you know, Alex last year, fresh off a huge contract and we all know how dedicated and what type of player Alex is. He probably would disagree with me, but I think he really pressed from day one to make that contract worthy. I think that he's -- I think Alex is going to come back next year and have a great year.

And I think the same thing with Soria, Soria's stuff is really, really good, as good as was, maybe even better than when I had him the first time and he was saving 40 games for me. I think he got off to a bit of a rough start and never recovered and put a lot of pressure on himself. But I look for big bounce-backs from Chris Young, Alex Young and Joakim Soria.

Q. I know people have called you about Dyson.NED YOST: They haven't called me.

Q. I think they're calling Dayton. Because you think about it, he plays two positions, he's good defensively, affordable?NED YOST: That's right.

Q. Is he a guy that you think would be tough to part with just because of what he does for you?NED YOST: Again, just goes back to -- I was thinking the other day, if you could take -- somebody asked me, I can't remember where I was, who is your favorite player. I told them I don't have a favorite player. Sort of like our kids, right, they're all your favorite players. But I got to thinking, if we could have two kids, anybody come live with me for the winter that I could really have fun with and enjoy it would be Salvador Perez or Jarrod Dyson.

Q. Really?NED YOST: I could take Dyson with me all winter long. He's that type of kid that he's just a ball to be around. He's just one of those fun guys. But, again, the nature of the business is if we make a deal for anybody, does it make us better? If it makes us better, it's something we're going to have to consider even though it would be hard to part with some of these guys because you are close to them. You have watched them grow up and develop into All-Star-caliber-type players and become World Champions.

But the nature of the business, John Schuerholz always used to say, and he is in the Hall of Fame now and he's in the Hall of Fame for a reason, and he would tell our coaching staff and Bobby that our job is to manage change. And that's what we have to do from year-to-year, we have to manage change because it's inevitable.

Q. What would Dyson do on the farm?NED YOST: We would go fishing, do all kinds of stuff. We'd go to the Whistling Pig and eat lunch. There's all kinds of stuff we could do, we would have a blast.

Q. He would wear you out?NED YOST: Yeah.

Q. I think he would wear you out?NED YOST: He would go fishing every day except he has to throw the big ones back and he already told me he's not doing that.

Q. Is Mous expected to be ready when the season starts?NED YOST: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's the same thing Schwarber had and Schwarber, he was ready by the World Series, which was amazing. But, yeah, Mous was doing football patterns at the end of the year. He was going. He's going to be 100 percent ready to go. Thanks, guys.

O'Hearn on Fall League's Top Prospects Team

Selected by AFL managers and coaches, the team recognizes 24 players who stood out

Top Fall League prospects 2:03

MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis looks at some of the Arizona Fall League's top prospects from the 2016 season

By Mike Rosenbaum
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MLB.com |

The 2016 Arizona Fall League came to an end on Nov. 19, when the Mesa Solar Sox, powered by a two-homer, 4-for-4 performance from Cubs top prospect Ian Happ, defeated the Surprise Saguaros, 6-1, in the championship game at Scottsdale Stadium.

Mike Rosenbaum is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GoldenSombrero. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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New CBA could impact Royals through qualifying offer

Royals could shake up roster 1:03

MLB.com Royals reporter Jeffrey Flanagan discusses the team's approach to the upcoming Winter Meetings and possibly shaking up the roster

By Jeffrey Flanagan
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MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY -- There is speculation around baseball that the Royals, because of their massive potential free-agent class after the 2017 season, could be one of the teams most affected by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Under the new CBA, teams losing a free agent who has been presented a qualifying offer are no longer guaranteed a compensatory first-round pick.

Jeffrey Flanagan has covered the Royals since 1991, and for MLB.com since 2015. Follow him on Twitter @FlannyMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Peace & glove: Owners, players reach CBA deal

New agreement includes change to home-field advantage in World Series

Justice on tentative CBA deal 1:33

Richard Justice joins MLB Tonight to discuss the tentative CBA deal agreed to by Major League Baseball and the Players Association

By Richard Justice
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MLB.com |

IRVING, Texas -- Major League Baseball's players and owners reached a tentative five-year Collective Bargaining Agreement through the 2021 season on Wednesday night. The parties will follow up today with a formal document, which then must be ratified by representatives of both sides.

At 8:40 p.m. ET, an assortment of happy players, owners, lawyers and staffers poured from meeting rooms to exchange handshakes and hugs. That's how quickly 36 hours of round-the-clock negotiations ended, nearly four hours before today's deadline of 12:01 a.m. ET to reach a deal. Short of an agreement, the sport was faced with the best-case scenario of an extension or owners could have imposed a lockout.

Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. You can follow him on Twitter @richardjustice. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Royals open spot on 40-man for Rule 5 Draft

Club adds four prospects to roster to protect them

Alexander's scoreless relief 0:29

Scott Alexander pitches three scoreless innings in relief, striking out four while allowing just one hit in the Royals' 4-2 win

By Jeffrey Flanagan
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MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals added four prospects to their 40-man roster recently to protect them from being picked in the Rule 5 Draft.

The moves, however, maxed out the Royals' 40-man roster, meaning they would not participate in the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 8 unless they clear space no later than the day before. Kansas City lowered its 40-man roster to 39 on Thursday by trading right-hander Brooks Pounders to the Angels in exchange for right-hander Jared Ruxer.

Jeffrey Flanagan has covered the Royals since 1991, and for MLB.com since 2015. Follow him on Twitter @FlannyMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Statcast a 'coaching tool' for Royals' Wakamatsu

Statcast: Royals' impressive HRs 1:07

Statcast measures how versatile Royals hitters Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain showed off plenty of power in 2016

By Jeffrey Flanagan
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MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY -- Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu has the daunting task each season of taking the mounds of data provided daily by the Royals' analytical department and transforming it into knowledge his coaching staff can use to win games.

That's why Wakamatsu is very curious about MLB.com's revolutionary Statcast™, the state-of-the-art tracking technology capable of measuring all aspects of player movement on the field as well as exit velocities and launch angles of batted and thrown baseballs.

A team-by-team look at future key contributors who starred in the 2016 Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League always is loaded with talent, and it was stronger than usual in 2016. In the initial installment of MLBPipeline.com's "The Next Big Leaguers," which premieres Tuesday, we focused on five prospects: Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger, Twins shortstop Nick Gordon, Cubs outfielder Eloy Jimenez, Red Sox infielder Yoan Moncada and Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres.

We could have spotlighted many more promising prospects if not limited by time constraints, and below we'll do exactly that.

Jim Callis is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow @jimcallisMLB on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Can you ace this quiz about Bo Jackson's career?

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By Gemma Kaneko |

Bo Jackson, the two-sport star whose career would be considered pure myth if it wasn't for the video camera, turned 54 on Wednesday. Bo knows baseball. Bo knows football. But do you know Bo? Oh, really? Then take the quiz below and prove it.

Jeffrey Flanagan has covered the Royals since 1991, and for MLB.com since 2015. Follow him on Twitter @FlannyMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Royals ink Butera to 2-year, $3.8 million deal

Royals re-sign Drew Butera 0:35

MLB.com Royals reporter Jeffrey Flanagan talks about the club bringing back catcher Drew Butera with a two-year deal

By Jeffrey Flanagan
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MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals and catcher Drew Butera have agreed to a two-year, $3.8 million deal. Butera will earn $1.5 million in 2017 and $2.3 million in '18.

Butera, 33, set a career high in home runs last season with four as he backed up four-time American League Gold Glove Award winner Salvador Perez. Butera also set career highs in average (.285) and OPS (.808).

Jeffrey Flanagan has covered the Royals since 1991, and for MLB.com since 2015. Follow him on Twitter @FlannyMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Kennedy thrilled with finish to debut season in KC

Righty also acclimates to new community, handing out food at homeless shelter

Kennedy's scoreless outing 0:28

Ian Kennedy tosses six scoreless innings, only allowing one hit and striking out six to pick up his 11th win of the season

By Jeffrey Flanagan
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MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY -- Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy continues to become acclimated to his new community.

Kennedy moved his family to Kansas City, enrolled his oldest daughter in preschool recently and continues to help out in the community. On Thursday, he helped hand out food at the Union City Mission, a homeless shelter in Kansas City.